No, they offered 164 and Ward turned it down. Furthermore, Ward is a 172 pound fighter until he shows that he can actually make 168 and based on recent articles, he is officially considering himself a LHW.
The question should really be will Ward be able to handle the power of 175 pound fighters?
THIS thread is about ggg at 168, try to keep up.
There's no way to tell. When team ggg was presented an opportunity to fight a quality 168lber (Ward), they passed
No, they offered 164 and Ward turned it down. Furthermore, Ward is a 172 pound fighter until he shows that he can actually make 168 and based on recent articles, he is officially considering himself a LHW.
The question should really be will Ward be able to handle the power of 175 pound fighters?
Even if his power carried over his compact frame would be a burden. Think of Arthur Abraham and how upon moving up to 168 his style shriveled up so much because of his range disadvantage.
Sure his power will go to 168 but why should he go there to fight much bigger boxers. He weighed only 165 a month before his fight with Lemieux. Lemieux weighed 176.5 which is a more typical weight for a middleweight 30 days before the fight. He is a small middleweight so he should just stay at 160 and beat everybody at 160 the way Hopkins and Hagler did. I am sure he would knock Ward out but it's a pointless fight for him. Ward would probably out weigh him by at least 15 pounds on fight night. Ward is a low dollar fight and a win over Ward does nothing for his goal of getting all the 160 pound belts. Ward wants GGG to come up 8 pounds to 168 but Ward refuses to go up 3 pounds to fight Kovalev at 175. Ward's last fight was at 172 pounds at Ward's request. If Ward is going to stay at 168 then he needs to fight the other 168 pound champs like GGG is trying to do at middleweight.
Yes, easily. Every time he touches an opponent, they get hurt. He spars bigger guys who all say his power is incredible. Even kovalev is on record saying that GGG has more power than himself.
I think the question is whether his power would carry up to light heavyweight.
Kovalev reportedly got dropped by GGG in sparring, which is significant. Doug Fischer said that he saw a video of this, and it was "scary."
However, Kovalev elected to stop sparring GGG not because he got hurt, but because GGG (a friend of Kovalev's) would force Kovalev to retaliate in earnest.
Sparring isn't fighting.
Quoted from John David Jackson interview:
There’s been speculation that Sergey had a torrid time in sparring with Gennady Golovkin…
Me and Sergey talked about that. Abel ’s blown that out of proportion. Yes they sparred. Sergey said, ‘John, the reason I don’t want to spar the kid is because I’ve got to hurt him. He said Triple G’s a tough guy, I’ve got to hit him with everything I’ve got to keep him off me and that’s going to hurt him. We’re friends. He says then Abel tries to make it a war and that’s not what we’re in there for. ‘That’s why I refuse to spar with the kid. Why should I have a war with him when I’m not going to make any money from it?’ He said Abel starts all this stuff but said, ‘The kid’s rough. I admit that. I had to hit him with everything I have to get him off. That’s all that was.’ They’re friends.
http://www.boxingnewsonline.net/john...golovkin-spar/
Yes, easily. Every time he touches an opponent, they get hurt. He spars bigger guys who all say his power is incredible. Even kovalev is on record saying that GGG has more power than himself.
I think the question is whether his power would carry up to light heavyweight.
Interesting reply. Height and reach are very important, which is why I mostly selected videos of larger men who have sparred with him. Because they obviously got touched if they respect the power.
I agree he doesn't have the frame of a SMW. MW is the weight he should stay at. He would have to add lean mass and do it over time. His skill, chin and punching power is what would allow him to be successful at SMW.
Yeah, but one of those dudes in the video said he actually knocked GGG down. So yes, height, size and reach matter to a tremendous degree.
When I look at GGG, I see a guy who's fighting at the right weight for himself. His body, his frame look to be correctly placed at MW. He's not walking around a ton above the weight limit and draining down; he's old school in every respect.
I believe that the only reason we talk about GGG moving up is because Abel Sanchez has shot his mouth off saying that they would take on anyone from 154 to 168. Then Ward said OK, let's do it.
GGG himself never said anything like this. He has been consistent. He's been focused on taking all the belts at 160 and then we'll see.
He's what, 34 years old now? He doesn't have a million years left, and he's still going to have to wait and hope to fight Cotto or Canelo (possibly even after a rematch between those two.)
Sparring is different from fighting, as you know, so I think there are some guys at 168 that might give GGG more than he wants at his frame size and relative lack of hand speed/flash.
I don't think GGG has the frame to move up to 168.
GGG strengths:
-- Power
-- Boxing skills
GGG weaknesses
-- Mediocre speed
-- Shortish (listed at 5'9")
Power does not necessarily travel up in weight class. A much greater boxer than GGG, Roberto Duran, had single punch power as a lightweight. This didn't move up with him, even to WW. He had to gain more skills and get cute. Which he did.
Point being, you have to land the power on the opponent without getting hurt in the process, and GGG can't give up height and reach and expect to succeed against guys over 6' tall such as Ward.
Then again, it's hard to predict GGG's capabilities, because (very unlike Duran), GGG has not been tested against great competition.
I say no, he can't carry the power up and land it.
Interesting reply. Height and reach are very important, which is why I mostly selected videos of larger men who have sparred with him. Because they obviously got touched if they respect the power.
I agree he doesn't have the frame of a SMW. MW is the weight he should stay at. He would have to add lean mass and do it over time. His skill, chin and punching power is what would allow him to be successful at SMW.
Well Arthur Abraham was an absolute monster at MW. 5 KOs in 17 fights at SMW. He was a guy having difficulty making weight at MW. About the same height as GGG.
So GGG will probably still knock some guys out at SMW, but he won't be the 20 KO streak destroyer he is at MW. Which is why his haters want him to move up.
I don't think GGG has the frame to move up to 168.
GGG strengths:
-- Power
-- Boxing skills
GGG weaknesses
-- Mediocre speed
-- Shortish (listed at 5'9")
Power does not necessarily travel up in weight class. A much greater boxer than GGG, Roberto Duran, had single punch power as a lightweight. This didn't move up with him, even to WW. He had to gain more skills and get cute. Which he did.
Point being, you have to land the power on the opponent without getting hurt in the process, and GGG can't give up height and reach and expect to succeed against guys over 6' tall such as Ward.
Then again, it's hard to predict GGG's capabilities, because (very unlike Duran), GGG has not been tested against great competition.
I say no, he can't carry the power up and land it.
I've got no reason to believe it won't but he's unwilling to find out.
I wouldn't say unwilling, just premature. The guy has PPV fights lined up. Once he has all the belts at 60 he really doesn't have much of a choice but to move up. But it would be dumb of him to move up now. Canelo/Cotto vs GGG would be the biggest PPV to make in the sport.